Body Burden | Fluoropolymers | Phthalates, Pesticides, PCBs, Flame Retardants, Metals | Dioxins, increases vigor, energy, health. chemicals, pesticides

Body Burden

Phthalates | Pesticides | Fluoropolymers | PCBs | Flame Retardants | Metals | Dioxins
Fluoropolymers
Perfluorooctanoate acid (C-8 or PFOA) is a fluoropolymer used in many Teflon products, ranging from non-stick cookware to Gore-Tex clothing to Stainmaster carpet treatments, surgical tubing, orthopedic socks, and more. Previously fluoropolymers were also used in ScotchGuard, but 3M withdrew it in 2000.

One common danger lies in overheating non-stick Teflon pans, causing fumes to rise off that produce flu-like symptoms in humans and which actually kill birds. Pregnant workers at Teflon's Virginia plant (who had high levels of PFOA in their blood) have raised serious complaints and law suits for the effects experienced with Teflon.
Under current study by Environmental Protection Agency, PFOA is found in the blood of almost every American.

"Scientists reported finding PFOA in the blood of 96 percent of 598 children tested in 23 states and the District of Columbia. . . . Once introduced, PFOA circulates in the body for years. If new exposures to PFOA could somehow be stopped, the body would require an estimated 4.4 years to excrete half the mass of PFOA accumulated in organs and tissues." (Environmental Working Group) [20]

"There is widespread contamination of human tissues with trace amounts of organic fluorocompounds derived from commercial products . . . [such as] water and oil repellants in the treatment of fabrics and leather . . . [and] the production of waxed paper and the formulation of floor waxes. . . . The prevalence of organic fluorine in human plasma is probably quite high since 104 of the 106 plasma samples tested here and all 35 in an earlier study . . . had measurable quantities . . . ." (Dr. Taves in American Chemical Society) [21]

"Even if PFOA were banned today, the global mass of PFOA would continue to rise, and concentrations of PFOA in human blood could continue to build. Long after PFOA is banned, other PFC chemicals from 50 years of consumer products will continue to break down into their terminal PFOA end product, in the environment and in the human body. . . . Unlike other persistent organic pollutants, all of which have some capacity to breakdown in the environment, PFOA will persist indefinitely even if banned, and will continually redistribute throughout the environment, the food chain, and the human population. PCBs and DDT have declined in total global mass in the decades following their respective bans in many countries, but the same will not be true for PFOA" (Environmental Working Group). [22]

Phthalates | Pesticides | Fluoropolymers | PCBs | Flame Retardants | Metals | Dioxins

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